A block of land at Muller Street, Redland Bay, will be subdivided for a housing estate after Redland City Council relaxed the site’s koala classification.
Deputy mayor Alan Beard, who chaired Wednesday's general meeting, used his casting vote to allow the reclassification of the 78,130sq m block after council was divided 5-5.
Mayor Karen Williams was at the Local Government Association of Queensland meeting in Toowoomba when the decision was made, paving the way for some 15-year-old koala trees to be cut down.
Officers agreed with the findings from a report by Gondwana Ecology Group which proposed the classification be changed from high-value bushland habitat to medium-value rehabilitation.
The land, zoned Urban Residential and Open Space, is vacant with a dam to the south and a creek to the north.
Councillors Wendy Boglary, Craig Ogilvie, Paul Bishop, Lance Hewlett and Murray Elliott voted against changing the classification, which would ultimately allow koala trees.
Cr Ogilvie said he believed the land was considered high-value koala habitat because the animals moved through that area to food trees.
Cr Boglary said she objected to removing the classification as it would pave the way for a development application which included lots of 400sq m.
"I'm against this because it is just to allow a higher yield for the developer and this is just more decimation of koala valued land," Cr Boglary said.
"The developer could put in larger lots here for a better outcome for the wildlife and for liveability."
